Sunless Tanners Still a Tough Sell, Survey Finds

Despite health risks associated with tanning, many young women still prefer the real thing

WebMD News from HealthDay

By Alan Mozes

HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, May 30 (HealthDay News) -- In their pursuit of a golden glow, young American women say that beauty concerns, not health worries, will determine how willing they are to use so-called sunless tanning products, a new survey finds.

The poll of 182 white female college students (just shy of 20 years on average) gets at the heart of a public health quandary: Warnings about the long-term health risks associated with sun-worshipping pale in comparison with the powerful drive to conform to the current norms of beauty.

"It's a question of confidence," said study lead author Jeong-Ju Yoo, an assistant professor of family and consumer sciences at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. "Sunless tanning products like bronzers, tanning creams or lotions are a much safer alternative to accomplish tanned skin than the use of tanning beds or the sun outdoors."

Consumers are reluctant to adopt these products because they're not convinced they'll get the result they want that way, said Yoo. "And because even though actual tanning is not perceived as safe, it has a clearly perceived benefit of being an easier and more familiar way to get the look and color people want," he added.

Excess sun exposure can lead to skin cancer. Rates of melanoma -- the potentially deadly form of skin cancer -- have risen in the United States for three decades, according to the American Cancer Society. Among young adults, melanoma is one of the more common cancers. Basal cell and squamous cell skin cancers, which are usually benign but can be disfiguring, are also increasing.

Alarms about skin cancer risk and premature aging from unprotected ultraviolet (UV) sunlight exposure, indoors or outdoors, fall on deaf ears. Tanning booths are frequented by upwards of 1 million Americans, with the American Academy of Dermatology Association, which opposes their use, estimating nearly 70 percent of such users are women, most between 16 and 29 years of age.

Sunless tanning products -- lotions, gels, creams and pills associated with risk-free bronzing -- are considered a potential solution. Already, Americans account for half of all over-the-counter self-tanning product sales worldwide. But Yoo's survey results suggest that getting the majority of women to make the switch remains an uphill battle.